Nabb1:Hopefully they'll be able to pull off some meaningful reform before the end of the term.

I don't understand this sentiment. All Boehner needs to do is put the bill on the floor and it will pass. Nothing else needs to happen. There's no other "work" or "negotiation" involved. The House GOP simply doesn't want to pass immigration reform. There's not much more to it, and pretending like that's going to just change for no reason at all doesn't make sense to me.

It's interesting that you have religious organizations, like the Catholic Church and many evangelicals, and big business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce, pushing for some form of immigration reform.

I think Republicans are honestly afraid of their base. The interest groups are on board, but the most vocal of their base seems to be vehemently against it.

fenianfark:It's interesting that you have religious organizations, like the Catholic Church and many evangelicals, and big business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce, pushing for some form of immigration reform.

I think Republicans are honestly afraid of their base. The interest groups are on board, but the most vocal of their base seems to be vehemently against it.

DamnYankees:Nabb1: Hopefully they'll be able to pull off some meaningful reform before the end of the term.

I don't understand this sentiment. All Boehner needs to do is put the bill on the floor and it will pass. Nothing else needs to happen. There's no other "work" or "negotiation" involved. The House GOP simply doesn't want to pass immigration reform. There's not much more to it, and pretending like that's going to just change for no reason at all doesn't make sense to me.

You know what would cause the biggest change in how politics is done. If you made it so that it would be much more easier for someone to bring a vote to the floor, instead of the speaker having all the power.

If that changed we would have races to the floor with who could pass a bi-partisan bill the fastest. It would actually make bi-partisan solutions be the norm. Right now the party in charge has all the power. That's not democracy because the majority doesn't get to decide just the majority of the majority.

This is one area where I honestly think we've got it wrong as a party - or at least we're doomed to defend it due to shiatty nature of our voting base.

The kind of people coming here are, for the most part, generally the kind of people with some farking DRIVE. They looked around, said "This is shiatty! fark this shiat! I'm out!" and risked their freedom and in some cases their lives to get up and do something about it.

I had a friend named Fransisco who ran a Mexican restaurant near the plant where I work. He was an extremely nice guy who didn't bother anyone and charged reasonable prices for quickly served, authentic Mexican food. My wife had both of his kids in her class over the years and they were both bright kids who excelled amongst the dullard local kids in their classes.

Some tea party taint stain turned him in, and sure enough there was an issue with the paperwork. (The issue, of course, being that he didn't have any.) His whole family was deported, including the two bright kids who were somehow managing to pull a decent education out of even the shiatty underfunded South Carolina public schools.

The guy who turned them in will continue to suck off the government teat via his bullshiat disability check for another 20 years. He'll almost certainly never contribute anything of substance to the Republic. But bright kids with an innate ability to learn and the sort of genetic drive that compels one to pick up and start over in a new country chasing the American dream? Our country was BUILT TO GREATNESS by people like that over the years.

But hey, if the labor pool in the south continues to be flooded with polite, friendly workers who are open to instruction and don't have a constantly shiatty attitude, I can see why much of the base would be scared shiatless.

Anyone who contends that immigration -- and more particularly, the question of whether to grant amnesty to certain illegal immigrants already in the US -- was not the defining issue in the Cantor-Brat race is just engaging in wishful thinking. There is 0% chance of House Republicans pushing an immigration bill before November.

I had a friend named Fransisco who ran a Mexican restaurant near the plant where I work. He was an extremely nice guy who didn't bother anyone and charged reasonable prices for quickly served, authentic Mexican food. My wife had both of his kids in her class over the years and they were both bright kids who excelled amongst the dullard local kids in their classes.

There are always exceptions to the rule. I've always said that I would support comprehensive immigration reform on one condition--that there could never be more than $50 transferred between any American resident (lawful or no) and any citizen in any Latin American county, per month. When I mention this simple proposal to the immigrants I know, both legal and illegal, they laugh in my face. Most the immigrants who come to the USA are indeed hardworking. They simply take all their free money and send it home and do not invest in America.

The immigrants of 100 years ago invested in their new communities; today American is just the big teat to the whole world.

BarrRepublican:This is one area where I honestly think we've got it wrong as a party - or at least we're doomed to defend it due to shiatty nature of our voting base.

The kind of people coming here are, for the most part, generally the kind of people with some farking DRIVE. They looked around, said "This is shiatty! fark this shiat! I'm out!" and risked their freedom and in some cases their lives to get up and do something about it.

I had a friend named Fransisco who ran a Mexican restaurant near the plant where I work. He was an extremely nice guy who didn't bother anyone and charged reasonable prices for quickly served, authentic Mexican food. My wife had both of his kids in her class over the years and they were both bright kids who excelled amongst the dullard local kids in their classes.

Some tea party taint stain turned him in, and sure enough there was an issue with the paperwork. (The issue, of course, being that he didn't have any.) His whole family was deported, including the two bright kids who were somehow managing to pull a decent education out of even the shiatty underfunded South Carolina public schools.

The guy who turned them in will continue to suck off the government teat via his bullshiat disability check for another 20 years. He'll almost certainly never contribute anything of substance to the Republic. But bright kids with an innate ability to learn and the sort of genetic drive that compels one to pick up and start over in a new country chasing the American dream? Our country was BUILT TO GREATNESS by people like that over the years.

But hey, if the labor pool in the south continues to be flooded with polite, friendly workers who are open to instruction and don't have a constantly shiatty attitude, I can see why much of the base would be scared shiatless.

I like you. At least you're honest. I must ask, however, why do you stick with the party? You don't have to be a Democrat to not be a Republican.

I had a friend named Fransisco who ran a Mexican restaurant near the plant where I work. He was an extremely nice guy who didn't bother anyone and charged reasonable prices for quickly served, authentic Mexican food. My wife had both of his kids in her class over the years and they were both bright kids who excelled amongst the dullard local kids in their classes.

There are always exceptions to the rule. I've always said that I would support comprehensive immigration reform on one condition--that there could never be more than $50 transferred between any American resident (lawful or no) and any citizen in any Latin American county, per month. When I mention this simple proposal to the immigrants I know, both legal and illegal, they laugh in my face. Most the immigrants who come to the USA are indeed hardworking. They simply take all their free money and send it home and do not invest in America.

The immigrants of 100 years ago invested in their new communities; today American is just the big teat to the whole world.

Well, if we made them pay their taxes on paychecks above the table, they will be contributing just fine. That's about all I can expect of any citizen, really.

I think that's wishful thinking on the part of the Politico author. There was a sharp contrast between Cantor and Brat on the issue of immigration, with Cantor having repeatedly supported a "secure the border/path to citizenship" compromise bill and Brat taking the position that "he opposes any immigration reform of any kind, even increases in legal immigration." One of Brat's major campaign themes in the final days of his campaign was that "amnesty legislation will be right back on track after the primary is over if Cantor prevails; this is the last chance [to stop amnesty]." Brat himself credited the immigration issue as driving his success in pre-primary polls: "Brat said his campaign has finally been gaining momentum after he highlighted Cantor's amnesty support."

Anyone who contends that immigration -- and more particularly, the question of whether to grant amnesty to certain illegal immigrants already in the US -- was not the defining issue in the Cantor-Brat race is just engaging in wishful thinking. There is 0% chance of House Republicans pushing an immigration bill before November.

And I think that is wishful thinking on Brat's part. Or to be more accurate, seizing the opportunity to give undue credit to his pet issue. Cantor had a 63% disapproval rating in his district. It is possible that almost any challenger could have beat him if they were mobilized. This primary had a much larger turn out than the previous one, I find it more likely it was people motivated to vote against Cantor rather than turn up to vote for any single issue.

I like you. At least you're honest. I must ask, however, why do you stick with the party? You don't have to be a Democrat to not be a Republican.

Because I'm in South Carolina, and it's a forgone conclusion which party will hold the seat.

Last month I voted in the primary for the one secretary of education candidate running for the GOP nod who still believed Science and Biology classes should involve actual science and biology. Sure, the (D) candidate who prevailed from their primary also held those positions, but she's basically going to get pasted by all the straight ticket (R) voters who show up for midterms.

Just wait until after the Mid-terms. They picked this guy because he appears normal, and it's not like they plan on voting on a goddamn thing anyway between now and the election....and even then maybe not until 2016.

fenianfark:It's interesting that you have religious organizations, like the Catholic Church and many evangelicals, and big business groups, like the US Chamber of Commerce, pushing for some form of immigration reform.

I think Republicans are honestly afraid of their base. The interest groups are on board, but the most vocal of their base seems to be vehemently against it.

It's been said many times that if the GOP doesn't start welcoming minorities, women, gays and other groups that they have traditionally ignored, that the GOP is doomed to become a regional power and permanently cede the national election to the Democrats.

Their problem is that to open their arms to these other groups means driving the Old Scared White People bloc of voters from the GOP forever. And right now, there's still enough Old Scared White People alive and voting to make that a losing bet for the GOP. Once a few more die off, they'll make the change, but while they play with the numbers, the Democrats are solidifying those minorities as permanent Democratic voters.

I had a friend named Fransisco who ran a Mexican restaurant near the plant where I work. He was an extremely nice guy who didn't bother anyone and charged reasonable prices for quickly served, authentic Mexican food. My wife had both of his kids in her class over the years and they were both bright kids who excelled amongst the dullard local kids in their classes.

There are always exceptions to the rule. I've always said that I would support comprehensive immigration reform on one condition--that there could never be more than $50 transferred between any American resident (lawful or no) and any citizen in any Latin American county, per month. When I mention this simple proposal to the immigrants I know, both legal and illegal, they laugh in my face. Most the immigrants who come to the USA are indeed hardworking. They simply take all their free money and send it home and do not invest in America.

The immigrants of 100 years ago invested in their new communities; today American is just the big teat to the whole world.

McCarthy clinched the race during a closed-door election over his lone competitor, Rep. Raul Labrador (R-Idaho), who found it difficult to get votes beyond a small group of conservatives who helped him mount a failed coup against Boehner last year.

As much as I hate circlejerk politics, I have to laugh at this sentence. If you're going for a coup, you get ONE shot.

Empty Matchbook:BlueDWarrior: Corvus: vpb: Did you think the business lobby wing of the GOP was just going to give up? I can imagine why they chose someone from California.

Actually California has some very crazy right wing tea party types. Yes the state is mostly liberal but those who live inland or small podunk towns can be extremely right wing anti-government types.

California does look to be a prime intra-state example of how Democrats have become overwhelmingly urban and Republicans overwhelmingly suburban and rural.

Most suburban areas are actually incredibly liberal, at least on social issues.

/it's much more about affluence around here

I'm not sure that explains it. In order for there to be a high concentration of Republicans in any part of California, it seems that you need two things:

1. Low population density2. A lousy local economy

Mr. McCarthy, for example, represents a district that includes Fresno and a lot of very sparsely-populated farming communities, many of which have suffered a double-whammy of a slow economic recovery after the housing bust and loss of agricultural jobs due to the recent drought.

DamnYankees:All Boehner needs to do is put the bill on the floor and it will pass. Nothing else needs to happen. There's no other "work" or "negotiation" involved. The House GOP simply doesn't want to pass immigration reform. There's not much more to it, and pretending like that's going to just change for no reason at all doesn't make sense to me.

This flies in the face of seeing Boehner mock anti-amnesty Republicans on TV. "Oh, this is too hard! Don't make me do this!" If he's all for a bill that can pass, and shows visible disdain for opponents in his own party, why would he hold the bill back from a floor vote? If he wants it passed and it has the votes to pass, why hold it?

mrmopar5287:This flies in the face of seeing Boehner mock anti-amnesty Republicans on TV. "Oh, this is too hard! Don't make me do this!" If he's all for a bill that can pass, and shows visible disdain for opponents in his own party, why would he hold the bill back from a floor vote? If he wants it passed and it has the votes to pass, why hold it?

BarrRepublican:This is one area where I honestly think we've got it wrong as a party

It is also one area where I think the left has it wrong as a party. Illegal immigration into the US has the potential to undo a century of gains in creating a reliable social safety net and in creating a good education system. It is also undermining a century of work in the war on poverty.

While your anecdotal story does tug at the heartstrings, there are dozens of counter stories of people forced out of work because illegal immigrants were willing to work for less, sometimes under the table and sometimes for less than minimum wage. People who lost their jobs because their hospitals and clinics were forced into bankruptcy.

And as others have already pointed out, how can you invest in your communities when you're busy sending your money back to your home country?

I think that Democrat's love affair with illegal immigration is going to be its own undoing.

mrmopar5287:This flies in the face of seeing Boehner mock anti-amnesty Republicans on TV. "Oh, this is too hard! Don't make me do this!" If he's all for a bill that can pass, and shows visible disdain for opponents in his own party, why would he hold the bill back from a floor vote? If he wants it passed and it has the votes to pass, why hold it?

Because poking fun at them on occasion during his weekly press conference to get a few, "I'm not a total pussy who's lost complete control of his caucus" soundbites is way, way different than putting his money where his mouth is and allowing a vote. If he does that, it will be one of the last things he does as Speaker.

Being elected to leadership is one thing. Winning an election for your seat is another. I don't care if I agree with a politician on every other issue. I won't vote for anyone that wants to turn America into northern Mexico.

Is it possible that Cantor was unelected because he's one of the top GOP douche-bags who are constantly masterminding all this GOP douche-baggery that America (and maybe his constituents) have grown to revile over the past 6 years? Or was it specifically his immigration reform platform, which seems to be the approved storyline in the news? Real question.